


Saying the Words

by ShyWhovian



Series: Dad Five AU [2]
Category: Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Arguments, Babies, Gen, Tegan and Turlough are awful rowdy siblings and should be stopped, dad!Five
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 07:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7835353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyWhovian/pseuds/ShyWhovian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If the Doctor's memory serves, the first child he adopted, Turlough, has never called him father. He's never minded, after all, Turlough shows him how much he cares and he knows what the boy thinks of him. One day that all changes though, thanks to a small argument.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Saying the Words

One of the things the Doctor quickly noticed was that Turlough never called him father or any of its variations. The girls all did it, as did Adric but never Turlough. When talking to him the boy would make it perfectly clear that he was addressing him and him alone, when talking about him to others the Time Lord was referred to as he or him. It didn't bother him as such, Turlough did show him that he loved him after all, the Doctor just found it slightly strange that his eldest was the only one who didn't think of him as his father. He supposed the boy must have vague recollections of his real parents and that the Doctor, though an excellent carer, was still not them. Or it could just be one of Turlough's quirks, like his hatred of Earth or his fondness for arguing with Tegan. Whatever the reason, it wasn't until the boy was thirteen that the Doctor heard him say it.

The fair-haired man was pacing up and down the long hallway holding an exhausted yet stubborn three-year old to his chest. It was time for Adric's nap and it seemed that the toddler had no intention of going down without a fight, he'd been crying on and off for the better part of an hour now and was just finally settling down, soothed by the calming rhythm of his adopted father's twin hearts. The moment the dark-haired Alzarian's eyes shut, there was a cry of outrage from the other room from Tegan, then a scathing remark from Turlough. The Time Lord sighed; not again! What were they arguing about this time?

His head peeked around the open door, watching his two eldest children as they glowered at each other fiercely. The Doctor felt that he should intervene but ultimately decided against it, the two would only resume their shouting once he'd left and it would undoubtedly get a lot nastier. No, better to let them settle this between themselves. He shut the door quietly, muffling the argument inside as he went to put Adric to bed, carefully detaching the clinging limbs from his torso and tucking the small child in, placing the briefest of kisses on his forehead before exiting the room with a small smile.

Out in the corridor the argument was much louder, even with the door shut, though it did seem to be winding down now. Good. Only a short one then, there shouldn't be too much damage. He wandered back, meaning to go downstairs and start on lunch for the children though he paused briefly at the teenager's door, listening to the now low voices within for a moment.

“D'you think he heard any of that?” Tegan asked.

“Most likely.” The Doctor could imagine Turlough's nonchalant shrug. “He was trying to get Adric to sleep.”

“Rabbits...You don't think he woke up do you? Dad'll have our heads if that happened.”

“Course he didn't Tegan, if he did he'd be crying and we'd all hear it...don't be stupid.”

“I'm not being stupid. It was just a question.” She snapped.

“It was a stupid question. Just relax, father'll have him in bed by now, it doesn't take that long to get babies into bed; 'specially not Adric. All he does is sleep and eat...” Turlough sounded disgusted, though that wasn't what made the Doctor pull away from the door. Father? Turlough had called him...? He blinked, his youthful face breaking out into a pleasant but slightly bewildered smile. The Doctor realised he was making too big a deal of this, though, in his defense it was the first time to memory that his son had called him something like that within earshot. Pulling himself back together with a quick shake of the head, he wandered downstairs, humming to himself happily.

If the children noticed he was happier than usual for the next couple of days none of them mentioned anything and if he found himself replaying that scene inside his head repeatedly, then that was no one's business than his own. Turlough considered him his father and that was all that mattered. Not that he hadn't already know that of course.


End file.
